New estimates from the health insurance industry trade group and other expert organizations are making it clear that Republican sabotage is dramatically increasing the premiums everyday Americans will be paying for health coverage in 2019. In a report that should shock every person struggling to afford health care, the health insurance companies expect rate hikes of up to 15.7% specifically because of Republican actions to undermine and sabotage the health care system.
AHIP: Factors Influencing 2019 Premiums in the Individual Market [5/25]
- Short-term plan regulation: “Proposed rule would likely increase premiums in the individual market by 1.7% in the near-term and up to 6.6% once these changes are fully implemented.”
- Association Health Plan regulation: “Could increase premiums in the individual market by up to 4 percent.”
- Tax bill: “Elimination of the individual mandate will increase premiums in 2019 … Recent regulatory guidance by the Administration expanded the list of hardship exemptions to the mandate for 2018, which could inject further uncertainty in the market ahead of 2019.”
AHIP, May 2018
Congressional Budget Office: Federal Subsidies for Health Insurance Coverage for People Under Age 65: 2018 to 2028 [5/23]
- Significant hikes projected: Premiums for benchmark plans are expected to increase by 15 percent next year, and 7 percent per year between 2019 and 2028.
- Republican sabotage to blame: CBO says these coverage losses and premium increases will happen “mainly because the penalty associated with the individual mandate will be eliminated and premiums in the nongroup market will be higher.”
CBO, May 2018
Center for American Progress: State-by-State Estimated Premium Increases due to Individual Mandate Repeal and Short-Term Plan Rule [5/18]
- Four-figure rate hikes: “Estimated premium increases due to these acts of marketplace sabotage average $1,013 nationally for benchmark premiums for a 40-year-old individual.”
- Cumulative sabotage impact: “After all, through previous acts of marketplace sabotage, the Trump administration has already unnecessarily driven up 2018 premiums for ACA-compliant coverage. For example, last year, CAP estimated that the Trump administration’s decisions to cancel cost-sharing reduction payments and to undermine enforcement of the individual mandate would increase average benchmark premiums for a 40-year-old by $1,061.”
